New York City lacks adequate infrastructure for electric cars
Savas Tsitiridis has been in the taxi business in New York City for more than 25 years. He owns and manages a fleet of over 300 taxis and last month managed to put half a dozen new cars on the road — snazzy, electric, carbon-free Teslas.
“We’re still testing,” Tsitiridis said. “We have six now, and four more on the way. Hopefully we’ll be able to convert the rest too.”
According to census data, only around 22 percent of the city’s residents own personal cars. And for those who do — often taxi or rideshare drivers — it’s difficult to transition away from gas guzzlers to electric vehicles. There are currently around 3,000 electric cars, which is under two percent of all registered cars in Manhattan. These numbers are even lower in other boroughs.
Very few electric TLC cabs exist in the city — and drivers have little incentive to switch on their own
Individual taxi drivers have not made the switch to EVs in the city. A spokesperson for the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) explained that they would like to see more electric taxicabs in the city, but do not provide any additional support to drivers who want to buy them. There are only eleven electric TLC taxis in the city and all of them are Teslas. Private fleet owners like Tsitiridis use business funds to invest in new technology, but this is much harder for individuals, like TLC drivers, who have personal money at stake and the safe choice to stick with tried and tested gas cars.
High prices have been inhibitory, but drivers have also struggled with accessible charging infrastructure — which is largely missing in the city. Free chargers are often in areas that require paid entry, and according to state and census data, are concentrated in wealthy zip codes. This reveals an inherent inequity in the rollout of electric cars. Without more public incentives to influence the switch, lower income drivers will continue to lag behind in the adoption of EVs.
The government currently encourages use of EVs with a federal tax credit up to $7,500. States also provide their own incentives and in New York, Government Andrew Cuomo launched the “Drive Clean Rebate” which provides a refund of up to $2,000 for the purchase or lease of certain new electric cars.
Tesla’s Model 3 is more affordable than many other electric cars on the market, and brings down the average price of EVs significantly
Data also shows that prices are gradually dropping: Research firm Cox Automotive published a report indicating that the average price of an electric car fell from $64,300 to $55,500 last year, which is close to a 15 percent drop. Lower priced options — like Tesla’s Model 3 which retails for under $40,000 before government incentives — have made green options somewhat more affordable. And a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows that even though EVs may have a high upfront price, they cost less over a lifetime of use than gas cars do.
“All common sense says it should be financially viable in the long run — you don’t have an engine or a transmission, there are no moving parts and regular cars have around 400 moving parts,” said Tsitiridis. “In the summer, when it’s really hot in NYC, gas taxis are stuck in traffic with the AC on for hours and hours so they overheat, which causes very expensive mechanical issues.”
But the most important benefit is to the environment. EVs produce fewer direct emissions, and according to the U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, contribute less to climate change. Some researchers believe that the the materials used to make batteries and carbon dioxide used to produce electricity mean electric cars don’t actually help the environment — some even claim diesel vehicles are cleaner. However, these studies have been largely debunked. A study published in Nature Sustainability clarifies that overall, even electricity generated with large amounts of fossil fuels releases less carbon dioxide than conventional gas cars, which pollute more over their lifetime.
But despite government incentives, falling prices and long-term savings, the price tag is still a deterrent and hinders potential climate benefits.
According to Stephanie Gagon, an associate policy fellow and electric vehicle expert at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, government incentives aren’t effective because there’s still a financial burden at the time of purchase. The buyer still needs to pay the sticker price upfront, they are only credited with the rebate later on. Also, all state and federal incentives only apply to new vehicles — so used electric cars aren’t eligible.
“At the federal level, we recommend extending the tax credit to cover all new, and qualified used, EV sales and to make it refundable at the point of sale,” said Gagon. “State incentives should complement or augment these.”
Tsitiridis applied to receive the Drive Clean Rebate three weeks ago and hasn’t received refunds for any of the six cars he purchased. Though there has been a delay, he said he anticipated it and is confident that he will be credited soon. According to Governor Cuomo’s office, the rebate has been used in 20,000 sales between 2017 and mid-2020.
Charging station in a private parking lot
Though Tsitiridis doesn’t mind waiting for his funds, not all buyers can afford to be as flexible. “New technology like electric vehicles are only accessible to those who have the ability, wealth and resources to adopt it,” said Leslie Aguayo, a researcher at the Greenlining Institute, who studies how climate change impacts communities of color. “Early adopters are first in line, and they’re in higher income groups — and wealthy folks and men.”
Aguayo also points out that public charging infrastructure is commonly concentrated in wealthy areas. This is clear in data from the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) which shows more chargers in zip codes with higher average incomes.
The same data also shows there are only seven fast chargers in Manhattan. Of these, five are Tesla chargers and two are BMW. While the BMW chargers have universal adapters, which can be used by different electric car models, Tesla’s superchargers are proprietary and aren’t accessible to any out-of-network models — so even of the seven, only two are useful for drivers with cheaper electric cars than Teslas.
Revel is moving into the EV infrastructure market
However, electric vehicles may bring in business opportunities for green innovation. Private organizations have entered the market to fill in the holes in public infrastructure. For example, in February, a company called Revel launched a network of superchargers in Brooklyn, which will be the largest universal fast charging depot in North America — and all models of electric vehicles can use it.
“99.75% of the 2.4 million registered cars in New York City are powered by a gasoline or diesel engine,” a spokesperson for Revel said. “We’re not stopping with just one Superhub.”
Tsitiridis said his biggest worry about buying electric taxis was also charging infrastructure. Taxis need to be on the road around the clock — so slow overnight chargers, which are commonly attached to household garages and take up to 12 hours to charge a car, are not feasible. Public fast-chargers in Manhattan, which charge a car in under an hour, are sparse and hard to access.
Private parking lots sometimes have “free” chargers, but visitors still need to pay for hourly parking
“Most [public chargers] are in parking garages, which means you have to go to the garage, park and pay parking fees,” he said. “There are very few superchargers — only one on the West Side — so not enough.”
According to Aguayo, other parts of the country reflect similar trends. Her research focuses on California, which has significantly more electric cars than NYC and most other parts of the country. She explained that data about chargers by zip code may actually be deceiving because infrastructure is often installed on large highways. Even though they fall into low income zip codes, they aren’t actually accessible to residents of the area.
Tsitiridis ended up buying and installing two private superchargers in his own hub in Queens. “The reason I took this long to get the cars was because I needed the infrastructure. Now we have two chargers and are planning to expand,” he said.